The ramblings of a Creative Crone! I consider myself to be the Grandma Moses of the Fiber Arts World as I came to the art late in life. My blog will consist of my art; art of others; an occasional book review because when not creating, I am reading; perhaps an enlightening discussion on a favorite quote...and positive discussions of politics/world affairs only!

About Me

Sunday, September 30, 2012

I have had a really marvelous week!! The best thing to have happen is that my buddy had his last chemo this past Tuesday...now just need to get the PET scan and report to be in the clear!!

And I got a package off to my granddaughter in college and heard back from her right away!! And my grandson, a freshman at a new (for him) high school is just fitting right in!

And my personal news....our guild quilt show which ends today..was very successful for me. I entered five quilts and came home with three ribbons...plus the little frog quilt that I donated to our scholarship auction brought a whopping $110.00 dollars!! That really knocked my socks off!! A live auction is really the way to make the money...people get real competitive and crazy!

"Go, Frogs"- my auction donation

Here are my ribbon winning quilts:

Miniature Log Cabin-3rd place

"RA, the Sun God" 2nd place in the art quilts

"100 Years of Girl Scouts"-A Winner of the Guild Challenge

The guild challenge is a annual endeavor. The topic changes each year according to the theme of the show. The title of this quilt show is "Remember When" so the challenge was to make a quilt, no larger than 36", about a memory....Rather than have first, second, etc. place winners, the judges choose five that they feel best depict the theme. Because this is the 100th year birthday of the Girl Scouts, and because I have a history that goes back nearly 60 years and 4 generations, I decided to do a quilt in memory of....I had fun finding the pictures on line...old magazine picture covers with girl scouts on them, pictures of badges, etc. and I included pictures of my mom, myself, my girls and my granddaughter...the four generations!! And I guess the judges liked the idea so chose me as one of the five!

Now need to run into Fort Worth to help take down the show and pick up my quilts...then think about getting ready for the show next year!!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Diva gave us a challenge using the tangle "IX". Although I have to admit is not one of my favorite ones, I appreciate the opportunity to try the tangles that I would probably not use otherwise! So here it is:

Challenge # 88-"IX"

Earlier today, I posted my challenge for the Bright Owl's "DARE" of the week. As both of these challenges request specific blog links, I didn't want to post them together, but if you are interested in seeing another zentangle of mine, you can link to it.

Last week when the Bright Owl gave out the zendala for the week, she decided to change the challenge to Saturday rather than Friday. She is a very busy lady...with job, school, etc....and Saturday works better for her. I think that anyone who takes the time to ever sponsor a contest, a challenge, or any kind of scheduled event for the public deserves the gratitude of her/his audience...so Saturday it is!! And here is my entry for this pattern:

Dare Challenge # 24

My guild, Trinity Valley Quilters' Guild, is holding our annual Quilt Show. It is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Will Rogers Coliseum. There will be over 300 quilts on display as well as vendors from all over the state with goodies to buy. I am entering five quilts and have one donated to the auction which will be Saturday. The money we make on our auction goes towards our scholarship which we award yearly to a deserving college student majoring in fine arts. And this year we are having a life auction which should be lots of fun!! Here is my quilt for the sale:

"Go, Frogs!"

Fort Worth is the home of TCU whose team is the Horned Frogs and this is from a pattern by Susan Cranshaw from her Desert Series..fusible applique.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The mailman (actually ours is a lady) brought my copy of the new Quilting Arts magazine today. I have really been anxious to see it because my fiber arts group..the Creative Crones of studioQ....are in an article written by Lynn Karwczyk about starting/maintaining art groups. A few months ago, I had responded to a question she had posed on Facebook wanting groups that had formed and had pictures of their meetings. She answered me and through several back and forth emails, the information she wanted for her article came to light.

This blog address is in the article for people to respond if they want more info...so to those who are checking it for that purpose, I hope you will check out any blogs about the Crones as I have posted several of our meetings on here. You can also check out Flicker and Picasa under my name for more pictures of what we do. and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Today, September 21st, is known as International Day of Peace. Last year the Diva challenged us to do "Pinwheel for Peace", the zentangle way. And she has challenged us to the same this year. There are several organizations in the world promoting peace...this is one of them. Another group that I have become interested in is the "Peace Felt" organization. Click on my link to find out more about them. I have signed up to do a swap with this group...am working on my felted item and will post a picture of it when it is finished and before I send it off to Greece where my partner is.And because I haven't blogged for awhile...I want to update everyone on my "Buddy"..who is also my best friend and my husband!! He is much improved since the last time I blogged; will receive his last chemo next week...then after PET scan, we will know where we go from here. Thanks so much to all who had commented on my last blog..your thoughts are really appreciated!This is going to be a real multipurpose blog as I am going to not only post my Pinwheel for Peace challenge, but also my Dare # 23 Zendala.First..my Pinwheel for Peace and if you wish to see the Pinwheels from last year, the Diva has posted them in a slideshow. While at her site, you can also scroll down and see individual pinwheels from other challenge responders for this year!

Monday, September 10, 2012

The last couple of days we've spent at the hospital.....my buddy is having a little bit of a rough patch with the low white cell count... Throughout our "ordeal" this year, there have been two things that have really helped pass the time for me...one is my Kindle Fire (I LOVE my Kindle...for more than just books!) and the other thing that has kept me occupied are the Internet challenges I have gotten into...I can take my sketchbook anywhere and "doodle" away!

This week, the Diva challenged us to do a tile and "break outside the boundaries of the box"! The challenges are posted each week on Monday, so my other favorite item came in real handy. As the hospital has Wifi (albeit a little sporadic), I could use my Kindle Fire to get on line and check out the Diva's website to get the topic. And I could also get to Linda Farmer's website to look for tangles I wanted to use!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Last night, I was at a bit of a loss at what to watch on tv...my Zentangling time...without any Democratic Convention on!! And my tv watching buddy wasn't feeling too well so I didn't want to watch any of our taped shows without him. While surfing, I discovered the game show channel...who knew?? So while entertaining myself with "Pyramid" and others, I was able to complete my Dare # 22 from Bright Owl.

This week, she added a challenge to go with her Zendala string....we were to complete the Zendala as a Monodala!! A term created by the Bright Owl! That is, to do the string in one zentangle pattern. So I looked through all the patterns on Linda Farmer's fab website...and decided to do the tangle, "Purk"! From Linda's website, if you click on the "P", you will find the Purk tangle listed with a YouTube link to a film on how to draw it...as well as an interview with Rick and Maria, the originators of Zentangling!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Every first Monday of the month, the Diva challenges us with a "UMT"...that is, "Use My Own" tangle. A guest Zentangler will give the challenge for the week. This week, Margaret Bremner gives the zentangle "Copada".

Challenge # 85

As I drew my string and thought about how I wanted to incorporate "Copada", my overall design began to take on a life of its own!! A face seem to be growing out of every line I put down...so as I added more and more, I found myself actually naming my challenge...Alfie...and having a nice little, albeit one-sided, conversation with Alfie!

Below, you will find Margaret's instructions for drawing "Copada". Give it a try!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

This afternoon, I had gotten an email from Green Mountain Coffee, the company where I order my K-cups for my Kerig coffee maker. I needed to make a change on my order so after trying on line to add to it, I gave up and called the company's 800 number (due to my lack of computer skills..not their website!) The very nice lady said "this is Mary Jane; may I help you?" And we proceeded to get my order straightened out and on our way. Then she said, "Jay, are you sitting down?" so I thought....oh...I am winning something really special! I am the 100th caller of the day! oh! oh!....so I said "yes, I am!" She then said, "You are speaking to Mary Jane.../.....!"

Well, it is a good thing I was sitting down! Mary Jane was my roommate in college my Freshman year! We became very good friends...she from South Dakota; I from Illinois; both at the University of Missouri; first time away from home, etc!! I was even in her wedding in Woonsocket, SD...a thrill for a little gal from Pittsfield, Illinois!!

Anyway, we have kept up through the years with Christmas cards. The last time we saw each other was probably 45-46 years ago...and haven't spoken since then either...just the annual cards with notes included. So we have followed each others' lives via mail!

My Freshman Roommate-1958-59 U of Missouri

We had a great time our freshman year...we lived in what was called the "temps"...temporary dorms which had built right after WWII to take care of the influx of veterans coming home and taking advantage of the GI Bill....and still being used many years later as girls' dorms. We were the fortunate ones who did get to move into the new dorms which were in the process of being built but weren't ready until March of our Freshman year. Of course, this was before the days of coed dorms....girls had "hours"..we had to be in at certain times...10:30 S-Th; 11:30-Fri, and whohoo...12:30 on Saturdays....oh and four times a year, you could sign up for a 1:00AM!!!

I am so thrilled to be in touch with Mary Jane again!! I think as one gets older making connections with the past become more important...and what an extraordinary, karma-ish way to connect!!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Today...hot here in Texas! We had such a wonderful August...unusual cool weather and unheard of rainfall...and now September when I am ready for fall...100+ weather returns!! Ah, well...give me a couple of months and I will complain about being too cold!!

I have finished my Dare Challenge for the week...thanks to the Bright Owl for the Zendala to use...To see the beautiful Dares that others have created, click on her link!

Dare # 21

This was another fun one to do....I think mine came out looking kind of like an Indian shield. Now, time to get busy on my finishing up of my entries in my guild's show.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

A week ago, my fiber arts group met to share and laugh together...we met at Cabbage Rose, one of my favorite fabric shops in Fort Worth. They have a great facility for meetings and for classes so at times when none of our members can hold our monthly meeting, they very nicely let us meet at their place.

Our challenge for August was given last month when the Olympics were on..it was my turn to give the topic and I chose to use the Olympic motto.."Citius, Altius, Fortius"...kind of stealing the idea from a zentangle challenge I did a few weeks ago.

Although not all the crones were able to get the challenge done, several did...and we had a great meeting. Here are some of the challenges plus a couple other things for our "show and tell".

Kathleen showed off her new colorful shoes!

Susan had her corduroy quilt that she is doing for the show

Bethany showed these cute owls!

Lynn is a new member who showed us a new journal

Susan is catching up on challenges..."Be the Pink Flamingo...."

Beth missed last meeting so showed us her "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"

And this is Beth's August Challenge..."Citius, Altius, Fortius"

Rhonda's August Challenge

And my August challenge...

Although our challenges are to be 12 X 12 ....I would like to add a background so I can put my block on point. Here is an idea I am thinking about doing.

Our challenge for September, given to us by Susan is : "Create a Fun House...Use your imagine...it can be a "Fun" house or a Funhouse as in a carnival. And the technique to use is add a found object of some nature to block." Sounds like FUN!!!